Thyatian "Republicanism"
by James Ruhland"All politics is local." Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neil.
Well, as you can see in the "Government" post, the Thyatian Imperial Government has several elective aspects which, on the surface, would appear broadly democratic1, almost Milenian. For example:
The Imperial office
is Elective, and the Senate has a "check" on its power through
various means.
All the Senators are
selected by election, and they have full legislative and taxation
power.
The Emperor cannot simply appoint the Patriarch, but must submit a list of 3 candidates to the senior Clerics of Thyatis, and they choose from among them by vote.
One might describe
the Thyatian Imperial Government as a "Parliamentary Imperium," or
at least a "Constitutional Monarchy." However, this would be
deceptive. The strength of the Imperial office is such that in
practice, at the highest levels of government, these electoral
procedures are almost moot. For example, though the
Emperor must submit 3 candidates to the religious hierarchy, and
they select the Patriarch, in practice the Emperor submits "his"
candidate and two non-entities, men that the Clerics would never
vote for, thus subverting the process. Only the most principled of
Emperors follows through with the spirit of this process, and the
Clerics have grown so accustomed to their role as a "rubber stamp"
of the Emperor's choice that they rarely raise any
objections2.
Similarly, with the
Senate, the Imperial Veto power over laws is almost absolute, and
"regulations" drafted by the Ministries are enforced as if they had
the power of law. The Senate can act as kind of a "Supreme Court"
practising "constitutional review" over such regulations, and
obviating them, but in practice this is rarely successful. The
Senate may control the tax code, but it is largely in place by the
11th century. In order to change the tax structure, the Senate must
pass legislation to do so. If the Emperor does not like the
changes, he will simply veto the measure.
So, then, is the
Senate powerless in the face of Imperial power? Not quite. Most
Senators are highly respected and influential men (and women),
members of the Dynastic Houses of the
Empire. They are individuals of prominence, and the Emperor ignores
their opinions at his peril. Many are not only Senators, but
members of the Imperial Government. Their influence can be very
significant. But it is not an influence based on
elective office. This is the influence of an
aristocracy, which "popular election" merely confers legitimacy
upon.
Th provincial civil
and military governors are not elected. They are appointed by the
Emperor, and their nominations ratified by the Senate. These
offices are non-hereditary, but members of prominent
families3 fill most of them, and they have wide powers
in their own provinces.
On the other hand,
though, the further down the hierarchy one goes, the more
"democratic" things seem to get. For example, though the Eparch of
Thyatis is appointed by the Emperor (and responsible, among other
things, for the day-to-day administration of the capital), the
guild leaders which report to him are selected by the guild's
membership. Also, the 4 "Demarchs" of Thyatis the City are elected
by the citizenry4, as are the Ward Archons (28 in
Thyatis the City, 1 for each Ward). The more localised the
authority is, the more "democratic" the office seems to be. Ward
Archons are very responsive to their constituency.
Other Thyatian
cities have their assemblies ("Curia"), which usually have an
elective membership (prominent local citizens), and they are
responsible for conducting local administration (sub-provincial
level). Villages could almost be called "participatory
democracies"; there is usually an (informal) headman, recognised
and selected by the village as a whole, but important decisions are
handled communally.
However, this "small
democracy" is somewhat threatened. The Dynastic families, seeking
to increase their own power, often attempt to subvert its
procedures, just as the Emperor subverts the "republican" features
of the Thyatian constitution6 at the Imperial level. The
central government, for its own reasons (mainly to keep the power
of the Dynatoi in check) opposes this,
formulating regulations and pushing for laws that would prevent
this growth of dynastic power at the expense of "the
weak7". Under a strong emperor, a rough balance is
maintained. The ascension of a weak one, or a series of them, could
see an unchecked rise in the power of the Dynastic Houses, the
weakening of local institutions and the central government, and
create powerful centrifugal forces.
1This is an "unByzantine" aspect of my variant, more in
line with Rome under the Augustan Principate system. However, there
are several ways that I "Byzantinise" it, and X1 did refer to
Thyatis as similar to both Rome and
Byzantium, so I have a mix.
2And, on the occasion that they do, it us usually over
the nature of the individual the Emperor has selected as "his"
candidate, not over the atrophied procedure itself.
3The "Dynastic Houses" again. Note however that the
status of a "Dynastic House" is not an "official" one. Powerful and
prominent families can fall from membership if they dissipate their
wealth and influence, and "new" houses of importance can rise if
they acquire wealth and power. No hereditary claim to title or
wealth is conferred by virtue of membership in a "Dynastic House".
In that sense the Thyatian aristocracy is somewhat "meritocratic",
since fortunes rise or fall based on success or failure in the
"real world", not accident of birth. But, on the other hand, some
families have had "Dynastic" status for centuries.
4The city has 28 Wards, divided into 4 Sections, Red,
Blue, Green, and White. Each Section elects a Demarch. Demarchs are
somewhat like "commissioners" of New York, and perform a lot of
local administration, including, for example, being responsible for
organising the cites militia. The Guild Leaders form a sort of
"City Council" in some respects, and most Thyatians (of the City)
are members of a Guild. Wards average around 20,000 population, a
fair sized city in and of themselves by Mystaran standards, and the
Ward Archons are effective "mayors" over their Ward.
6The "Thyatian Constitution", like the British one, is
unwritten, with many of its aspects enshrined in laws, custom, and
tradition, but not in one document like the US Constitution.
7This tension is similar to that of 10th and 11th
century Byzantium. There is also an important tension between the
"civil faction" and the "military faction" which I will get to
subsequently, when I describe the Dynatoi
and faction in general.